Damn your concessions

It is an incredible honour to have been invited by the National Liam Lynch Commemoration Committee to speak before you today. In his resistance to British rule in Ireland, General Liam Lynch has left an important legacy for all the Irish people, a revolutionary career that displayed great dedication, idealism and heroism. Republicans of every generation have paid tribute to him on this spot since the bitter Civil War, or rather, what I prefer to call the Counter-Revolution of 1922-23. It is right and fitting that we continue to pay tribute and honour a giant of the Republican movement such as Liam Lynch.  In 1935, before a crowd of thousands, Lynch's former comrade, Maurice Twomey, unveiled the tower dedicated to Liam Lynch that we stand in the shadow of today. Twomey had served alongside Lynch in the ranks of Óglaigh na hÉireann during the days of the Tan War and was later on his staff, during the Civil War. By 1935, Twomey himself had risen to Chief-of-Staff of the IRA,

Britain’s new counter-terrorism bill, which came into effect on 12th April 2019 is an outright attack on freedom of political expression and opinion. The new laws enacted should be of particular concern to political activists here in Ireland. Three of the key points are listed below: “extends the ‘offence’ of inviting support for a proscribed organisation to cover expressions of support”  This is open to blatant abuse, what constitutes expressions of support in the British Governments eyes can and will be legitimate political expression. In the last few years we have seen a number of political activists in Ireland be arrested for giving political speeches or conducting political interviews with media, they have subsequently been found to have no case to answer in court. This new law now makes it easier for the courts to convict such activists and was included no doubt due to the failure to previously convict Irish Republicans. “It is an office to display in a public place an imag